Trace

Hello Darby. I am new here as well (2-3 weeks). I am sorry that you are stuggling with these attacks but I do have some good news. The people on this forum really know what they are talking about. In just the short amount of time that I have been here they have led me to some really useful tips that have been priceless in fighting the attacks. I certainly have not tried everything that is talked about here but in my case I have found a lot of success with melatonin (6mg) before bed and an energy drink (redbull) when I feel an attack coming on. People here I very adament about getting oxygen treatment as well. I have not gotten mine in place yet but I will. Many people here claim that it is the very best thing to help beat these attacks. I can say with confidence that everyone here has welcomed me with open arms and have been very friendly in answering my questions so feel free to ask away and good luck researching for yourself.

This is very interesting. It would make more sense to look at light cycles but I would imagine that something like that would be really easy to confirm. I would be really interested to speak to someone about this from Alaska for instance. Does anyone know if we have any busters up there? Thanks for the article CHfather.

I have been thinking about this too Oscar. I find it very odd that these attacks come in regular cycles for some people. That immediately makes me think about outside cyclical forces as a cause or at least potential triggers. Weather is the first thing I thought about. I was having some trouble finding any serious patterns though that I could use. Since then I have moved to lunar cycles and other gravitational forces (like the equinoxes) because I too get attacks right at spring. Again it is tough finding any sort of serious correlation but I think you might be on the right path here and we need to keep looking.

Hopefully I will be able to let you know. Who knows? For all I know this could simply be the beginning of chronic attacks for the next 30 years. OH, and my first year with clusters, I had a 7 month headache as well. Yep, 24/7 headache from Dec 31 2006 till July/Aug 2007. And don't even get me started on the migraines that can last 5-7 days. I have no reaction to that. I dont know what to say. I am thinking the same thing but my message to them and you is that things are getting better. Your numbers are growing and there will be more voices heard. Your suffering will not be in vein. We will continue the efforts to get recognition in the hopes that future suffers dont have to deal with what you have gone through.

Dammit. That seems to be the consensus. I am going to work really hard to be preventative as well. I have been looking around at the myriad of ways people try to fight these attacks and am going to threw as many as I can that are feasible for me. I do have one other issue too with all of this. This is still all very new to me and I believe that this is my first cycle (hopefully cycle). How do I know that what I am doing is working and not simply it being the end of a cycle? I guess it is just a bunch of trial and error until you can nail down your own pattern. At the very least this is all extremely interesting to me. Sorry I have to be my own guinea pig in all this but this is a world I never knew existed 30 days ago. The term cluster headache never showed up on all the pages I had been reading. Now I have all this new information and I still need to sort it all out. Still happy to report some real success with energy drinks and melatonin at night. Heard this song yesterday and thought of all CH suffers around the world. We cant let this define who we are ... Take care of yourselves everyone but be sure to live when you're not having an attack.

I am curious if oxygen treatment is expensive in the US. The startup with the equipment and the regular upkeep?

Naive? Very possible but I do want to join your fight against the beast and help develop new ways to be more offensive than defensive.  1102 Absolutely not. I am eternally thankful for all the help I have received already from this group. I understand the fact that I am very new to this and you guys and gals are the grizzled veterans. I have every intention of taking the work you guys have already done and add to it as much as I can. I am more concerned about piling medical costs to be honest. I do not have the funds to build a serious stockpile of weapons to fight these attacks. I have to be careful with my approaches to these treatments.Â

Thanks for the heads up on that one. Prednisone did not come up in the conversation but I have read that on other sites while researching this. It is something that I am vaguely familiar with but only because I used to have to give it to my dog.

She did not. I will be sure to do that during my follow up. I was curious about that. I am going to start it. She has me on 130mg and ramping up to 260mg after 5 days time. I wasnt planning on taking her up on the injections but after reading more and more advice saying to develop backup plans for backup plans I am rethinking that.

Having backups is a very good point. When I go in next I am going to bring that up. I have every intention on making it to Chicago for the conference. It is a pretty easy trip for me and only about a 5 hour drive.

As I stated in a previous thread I was referred to a neurologist with an appointment 4 weeks out. Using some of the treatments suggested here (melatonin/energy drinks) I was able to start stringing together a few good nights sleep in a row and I felt more in control of these attacks and my life. I cant thank you enough. One of the first things I did was called the neurologist and requested to have my appointment moved up if there was a cancellation. Yesterday I got a call saying that was the case and that I could be seen later that day. Awesome! I went in for basically an initial exam, ran me through all their questions about medical history, symptoms, blah blah blah. The doctors checked me out and was fairly confident that I was experiencing CH but, this being my first cycle, didn't want to nail down a diagnosis just yet. I told her about my own research and the treatments Ive learned here. Mentioned psilocybin and she gave me the blanket response that she hadn't heard of it. About what I was expecting but maybe it will encourage her to look into it further sometime. She put me on verapamil and wants me back for an MRI just to rule out anything more serious. She claimed that she didn't expect anything but better to be safe than sorry. She's right. I would rather not do it but just in case, why not? I am still very interested in busting to see if I can break the cycle so I am not eating a handful of pills every night. I just don't like that. She offered some injection that I could do myself to abort an attack but I declined as the energy drinks have been doing a good job of that so far and at $2 a pop, it seems like the best solution for me. Don't really care to inject myself if I can avoid it. Anyway, I am sure you all have already gone through this experience but I just wanted to report mine. I am optimistic that I can get the beast by the throat and knock it out for good but this is a good first step. Thank you all for the support and the acceptance in this group. If I can offer anyone any help at all please just ask.Â

Jeff - I have found some success with energy drinks and you are absolutely correct that the post attack exaustion just completely nulifies any caffiene/taurine rush. No worries there. Victor - That is absurd. I am very new to the world of CH but I know that oxygen treatment is not only common but very effective. I have not yet got setup with oxygen but I am doing pretty well with the melatonin/energy drink one-two punch. Thank you very much. MG - Iowa ... what can I say? I love it here. It is beautiful. The warm summers the cold winters and as much sweet corn as you can possibly get your hands on. It's home. I would imagine that there are parts of Northen England that remind you of Iowa depending on how long it has been since you left.

That was amazing. What a game to actually be at. Yeah it was just one game very early in the season but that was domination. They really woke up for the challenge. You already said everything about the game but I just cannot get over Anibal Sanchez's 17 Ks. Amazing!

That was tough to watch again. My reaction was essentailly the same. It is still really early but I would really like to see the Tigers win this series. Even if it was just a warning shot to the rest of the league that they are going to compete with the best. Have fun today! Go Tigers!

Please do but when you say something to Coke be sure to duck really quickly. He seems like the type to take a swing at someone giving him some lip. Rondon makes me nervous. I just dont think he is ready. Looks as if the bullpen is going to be a roller coaster ride this year. Makes me even more anxious about Smyly leaving the pen. I hope they wake up for the Braves. I am green with envy. I wish I was closer to Detroit so I could take in a few games a year. Ive only been to Comerica once (last year v. Minnesota) and it was beautiful. Most of my memories are from Michigan and Trumbull.